


Ready or Not

by thudworm



Series: Tony Stark Bingo 2020 [12]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M, Royalty, introducing the boyfriend to the best friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:01:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24821254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thudworm/pseuds/thudworm
Summary: Jim was nowhere near ready for this. The world wasn’t ready for this. Tony had been nagging him for months to finally introduce him to his boyfriend, but fortunately for Jim the chaotic nature of all three of their schedules meant he’d been able to put it off. Until now.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes/T'Challa
Series: Tony Stark Bingo 2020 [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1619530
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15
Collections: Tony Stark Bingo 2020





	Ready or Not

**Author's Note:**

> Title: Ready or Not  
> Collaborator Name: @thudworm  
> Card Number: 3093  
> Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24821254  
> Square Filled: A2- Royalty  
> Ship/Main Pairing: James "Rhodey" Rhodes/T'Challa  
> Rating: Gen  
> Major Tags: Royalty, introducing the boyfriend to the best friend  
> Summary: Jim was nowhere near ready for this. The world wasn’t ready for this. Tony had been nagging him for months to finally introduce him to his boyfriend, but fortunately for Jim the chaotic nature of all three of their schedules meant he’d been able to put it off. Until now.   
> Word Count:1,004

Jim was nowhere near ready for this. The world wasn’t ready for this. Tony had been nagging him for months to finally introduce him to his boyfriend, but fortunately for Jim the chaotic nature of all three of their schedules meant he’d been able to put it off. Until now. 

He had first met T’challa in Lagos when he’d been involved in a humanitarian relief mission, airdropping supplies to communities impacted by natural disaster, and the Prince had been leading a diplomatic outreach mission, the first Wakanda had sent outside of its borders.

Jim had been on a day of leave, wandering through a local market looking for unique souvenirs to bring home for his family, not I❤️NY type junk. His sense of direction was normally pretty decent, but that day he’d managed to get himself turned around and unsure of which way he needed to go. 

T’Challa had noticed his increasingly confused laps around the market and came to his rescue. They had hit it off instantly, and kept in contact often after returning to their usual lives. A long distance relationship with the occasional visit was hard at times, but it was worth it. 

He hadn’t been able to keep the fact that he was seeing someone from Tony, but he was able to keep his identity a secret. Which had only served to encourage Tony’s nagging, but Jim had held firm. 

The thought of introducing his best friend to his boyfriend was a nerve wracking one. Either the pair would get on like a house on fire, or they would absolutely hate each other. There was no in between. Of course, if Tony ever met T’Challa’s younger sister Shuri, the dynamic between them would be much more predictable- explosions. Of the intensely competitive one-up-manship kind. Jim wasn’t sure if the world could ever be ready for what that formidable collaboration could create. 

The other way Jim saw everything possibly going horribly wrong involved Tony forgetting to engage his brain-to-mouth filter and making a pass at one of the Dora Milaje. Those women were terrifyingly competent, and took absolutely no shit from anyone. Tony learning that the hard way was something he wanted to avoid. 

Now, there were no more excuses- they were finally all in the one place at the one time. Tony was presenting some of his work with AI at a tech conference in Copenhagen, which meant he was attending in his role as liaison to SI. He had also let it slip to Tony that T’Challa would also be there, acting as an escort for his younger sister. 

He and Tony were sitting in one of the local cafes, waiting. Tony had already finished his first cup of coffee and gone back for a second, but Jim was so on edge he’d barely taken a sip of his own. 

“Mr Stark,” came T’Challa’s voice from behind them. It was finally happening, whether he was ready or not. 

“Prince T’Challa,” Tony replied. “It’s good to see you again.” 

Wait, what? 

Jim’s jaw just about dropped in surprise as his best friend and his boyfriend shook hands like old friends; but before he could demand to know how these two knew each other, T’Challa took a seat next to him and greeted him with a kiss. It was just a peck, not full on PDA, tame even by grandma standards, but somehow it was enough to have Tony staring at them in shock. 

Now he really had to know how they’d met before. “What do you mean ‘again’,” he asked.

“Mr Stark’s company has been attempting to negotiate a deal with Wakanda’s Trade Ministry for access to vibranium. I must say, his efforts have been rather persistent.”

Jim chuckled weakly. “Yeah, well. If I had to choose one word that describes Tony, persistent would be a strong contender. He never knows when to give up.”

“Hey!” Tony started to protest, but Jim cut him off. 

“Remember that time you were convinced you could fix all the problems with Howard’s old flying car design, but it took until the third concussion for you to give up on it,” he said pointedly. 

“Okay, that’s fair,” Tony grumbled. 

“I did not realise your role as liaison to the company meant a close friendship with its CEO?” T’Challa asked. 

“Normally it wouldn’t. But Tony and I were roommates back when we were at MIT together. It was a lucky coincidence that I was assigned to Stark Industries, and not somewhere like HammerTech, and when Tony found out he insisted on being the one to work with me in that role, instead of foisting me off on some middle manager who can’t tell his ass from his elbow.”

The conversation shifted to the tech conference they were all there for, and which presentations they each were looking forward to most. 

“I must say that I’m hurt, absolutely _wounded_ , that neither of you bothered to tell me you were seeing each other,” Tony said, with a dramatic hand over his heart. 

“It’s not like you told me you were negotiating with Wakanda- how was I meant to know you’d already met T’Challa?” Jim pointed out.

“Likewise,” T’Challa added, “I had no reason to believe that the CEO of the company had a personal connection to a military liaison, and I do not make a habit of discussing my personal business at the negotiating table.”

Tony gave an exaggerated pout. “You don’t have to sound so reasonable about it. Let me have my drama- it’s not every day I learn my best friend is dating royalty.”

“No, that’s usually your area of expertise,” Rhodey answered on autopilot. Because Tony was right. T’Challa was a prince, and would become King T’Challa some (hopefully far off) day. Okay. Now was not a good time to freak out about this. He just had to hold himself together for long enough that he could get some privacy with his boyfriend to coach him through it. 

He could do it. 

He hoped.


End file.
